Bhopal Gas Tragedy: ‘A case of corporate manslaughter’, says BJP
August 11th, 2010 - 2:59 pm ICT by ANI
New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy was the result of criminal negligence, and the authorities allowed the tragedy to happen.
“Why were the accused in Bhopal Gas Tragedy let off? This is a case of corporate man slaughter,” said Sushma Swaraj, in the debate on the Bhopal disaster in the Parliament.
“Government allowed this incident to happen, to save money and to make profit. They took Indian lives for granted and let this incident happen,” she added.
Earlier on August 5, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recently sent additional evidence against former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to the Ministry of External Affairs in connection with his extradition proceedings in the case.
The CBI had on August 2 filed a filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court seeking restoration of stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused in the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy case.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to examine all aspects of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, seeking Anderson’s extradition apart from measures to clean up the disaster site, had submitted the report to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on June 21.
The GoM had dealt with all the issues - compensation, legal issues, including the issue of the extradition of Warren Anderson, the legal options available to the Government of India, and most importantly, remediation matters, and health related matters.
Union Carbide settled its liabilities to the Indian government in 1989 by paying 470 million dollars before being bought by another US company, Dow Chemical.
In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by wind to surrounding slums.
The Government says around 3,500 died in one of India’s most horrific of industrial disasters. Rights activists, however, claim that 25,000 people have died so far. (ANI)
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- Bhopal Gas Tragedy: CBI sends additional evidence against Anderson, says Chavan - Aug 05, 2010
- Bhopal Gas Tragedy: High Court directs Dow Chemicals to disclose its business interests - Jul 22, 2010
- 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy: No police record about who let Anderson on bail - Jul 19, 2010
- Bhopal gas victims await justice, demand early extradition of Anderson - Jul 13, 2010
- Political establishment has let down Bhopal victims: Chidambaram (Second Lead) - Aug 13, 2010
- Opposition should have raised Bhopal issue in 2001: Chidambaram (Lead) - Aug 12, 2010
- CBI seeks extradition of Warren Anderson (Lead) - Mar 22, 2011
- Delhi court allows CBI to extradite Anderson in the Bhopal gas tragedy case - Mar 23, 2011
- Madhya Pradesh Assembly adjourned over Anderson's extradition issue - Jul 19, 2010
- Bhopal gas tragedy: CBI moves Delhi court for Anderson's extradition - Mar 22, 2011
- Bhopal panel recommends enhanced Rs.72 crore compensation - Sep 27, 2010
- 26 years on, Bhopal gas survivors rally for justice - Dec 03, 2010
Tags: bhopal disaster, bhopal gas disaster, bhopal gas tragedy, central bureau of investigation, corporate man, corporate manslaughter, criminal negligence, culpable homicide, dow chemical, dr manmohan singh, extradition proceedings, leader of opposition, manmohan singh, methyl isocyanate, metric tonnes, ministry of external affairs, parliament government, prithviraj, union carbide, warren anderson